


at least i did one thing right

by NeverMessWithTeddyBears



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25935988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverMessWithTeddyBears/pseuds/NeverMessWithTeddyBears
Summary: "That's not real. Bright. It's fake. Made-up. The only reason for it is that I wanted to run away from Whitly, wanted to burn it to the ground." he explains, looking at her with clear blue eyes. "But you, Dani... You deserve a name that means something."
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 12
Kudos: 76





	at least i did one thing right

Insomnia isn't a new feeling for him - it's familiar, well-known, like an old friend you'd randomly encounter on a street a reminisce about the dumb shit you'd do all through highschool - not that Malcolm went to public schooling, nor did he have a lot of friends to do dumb shit with, but still - and the faint hands of sleeplessness that embrace him are almost welcoming.

Dani's hand on his chest, though - that's home. It's her dark hair spread out over the silk sheets and the smell of her perfume on the pillows and the way the moonlight from the wide windows highlights her skin at three in the morning. She turns around in her sleep, the hand that's on his chest slowly rubbing the place over his heart, and he knows she'll realize he's not asleep - will feel the anxiety radiating off him and open her eyes to look him over softly (and that's home, too) before sitting up and trying to find a solution.

It's Dani's presence that made this night's insomnia, although familiar, unexpected. And Malcolm thinks on that for a moment - considers how he never thought he'd have a good night's sleep; how, if you asked him five years ago, he'd never think he'd actually share a bed on a daily basis. Yet here he is - here they are - only one of his hands shackled to the bed, the other free to go over her waist, falling asleep almost every night for the past year to the calming sounds of Dani's breathing and waking up only to the sounds of their alarm clock screeching.

When she wakes up, eyes still glazed with sleep, she doesn't turn on the light but can still tell his features by the moon shining through the windows and the faint street lights that manage to reach them. Dani's hand moves to the back of his neck and she scratches him lightly there and Malcolm closes his eyes briefly to the feeling. "Anything we can talk through?" she asks and Malcolm nods, ready to go through their routine. If they can't talk it through or work it through - if the conversation doesn't work and the breathing exercises fail and all of the fallback coping mechanisms they've worked on in the past few years are rendered useless for the night - then Dani will kiss him, turn on her side and go back to sleep, as they've long ago decided that her staying up with him is pointless and damaging to her already problematic NYPD sleep schedule, let alone if she tried to keep up with a man who hadn't slept properly in two decades, no matter how much she loved him.

Malcolm's eyes meet hers as her hand then goes to settle in his. "Just thinking about the wedding."

Dani smirks, watching as his fingers play with her engagement ring. "Getting cold feet?" she teases and Malcolm laughs. That's good, she thinks. That he can laugh. Some nights, he can't, not even for her.

"Never." he says without a second thought, and it still warms Dani's heart.

"Then what is it?" she nudges him lightly.

He hesitates for a moment before replying. "Have you been thinking about last names?"

Dani's eyes are only slightly questioning, but there's a slow realization that's dawning on her, and she thinks she might know where he's going with this. "I thought about keeping mine at the job. And then maybe hyphenate for the papers. But then I realized I didn't like how it looked hyphenated." she says. "I was just gonna take yours." At that, she can feel him tense, and is almost certain what the issue is now. Still, she waits for him to say it. " _Dani Bright_ has a good ring to it."

His smile isn't really in it. "Yeah, it's that." he says, and Dani only squeezes his hand reassuringly. "That's not real. _Bright_. It's fake. Made-up. The only reason for it is that I wanted to run away from Whitly, wanted to burn it to the ground." he explains, looking at her with clear blue eyes. "But you, Dani... You deserve a name that means something."

"You deserve that, too, Malcolm." she says, a hand cupping his cheek. He grabs her by the wrist and kisses her palm slowly.

"That's why I wanted to ask you..." he pauses, smiles up at her, leaves another kiss on her palm. "I wanted to ask you if I could take your name?"

His voice is hopeful and Dani's eyes fill with tears, her heart clenching in the same way it did all those months ago when Malcolm asked her to marry him. "You know," she says, planting a kiss on his lips, close to him so their noses touch as she looks him in the eyes. " _Malcolm Powell_ has a nice ring to it, too."

He sighs, laughter escaping his lips, and she can see how his shoulders relax. They settle under the covers again, Dani's hand circling his waist as he turns his back to lean into her chest. Malcolm can feel Dani's breath on his neck and it soothes him.

He manages to get a few hours of sleep.


End file.
